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I’ve been meaning to comment on the news in India. I very much enjoy reading local papers when I travel. Here are four articles that I liked a lot, all from the 16th of December in the Times of India, Kolkata edition:

Baby saved from building ledge

Kolkata: He lay peacefully on the narrow sunshade above the third-floor window of an apartment in Dum Dum’s Mailakhana area, inches away from a fatal fall and blissfully unaware of the commotion he was creating

Residents and passers-by had their hearts in their mouth when they spotted the newborn, wrapped in a towel, lying on its precarious perch. Even as they panicked, a young police officer held his nerves, clambered up a neighbouring building, jumped onto the ledge and rescued the infant with the deftness of a trapeze artist.

Nikhil Ranjan Mitra, a sub-inspector (SI) of the Dum Dum police station was rewarded for his courageous effort. But the police could not explain how the baby came to be on the sunshade. The owners of the flat said they were unaware of the baby’s presence above their window. The police are investigating the incident.

It was around 11.30 am that neighbours first spotted the baby. Soon, people gathered under the building, trying to figure out if he was still alive. Some tried to climb up the building but failed. The police were called in but they were at a loss. The fire brigade was also informed.

It was then that Mitra swung into action. Climbing up the pipes of a neighbouring building with the skill of a seasoned athlete, the braveheart stepped onto the narrow perch and gingerly picked up the tiny bundle. The baby was alive.

Everyone, including Mitra’s colleagues, heaved a sigh of relief when he managed to climb down safely with the baby in his arms. He has been given a good service (GS) mark and a letter of appreciation by North 24-Parganas SP Rahul Srivastava. “He did a good job. So, I gave him a GS mark and sent him a letter of appreciation,” said the SP. The baby is healthy and has been taken to Sukanya, a home for destitute children in Salt Lake. The baby boy, his rescuer Nikhil Ranjan Mitra and the building where the child was precariously perched

Women give birth by candlelight

Malda: Two women allegedly gave birth to baby girls at a hospital in Malda in neardarkness on Monday night as doctors operated upon them using candles during a load shedding. The generator, it was learnt, was not working.

The load shedding at Malda District Hospital started around 8 pm and lasted for three hours. Nurses and doctors were left with no option but to use candles so that they could carry out their duties despite the risks.

Rashuda Biwi of Old Malda was taken to the labour room around 10 pm on Monday. Being an emergency, doctors decided that the nurses would hold candles to facilitate the operation. After Rashuda, Ranu Roy of Englishbazaar went under the scalpel in near-darkness. Fortunately, both operations went off without any glitch and the mothers gave birth to girls.

Hospital superintendentin-charge Dr Subrata Shome said he was not aware of the incident. “I’ll look into the matter,” was all that he said.

Sabhadipati of the Malda Zilla Parishad, Sabina Yasmin, who visited the hospital on Tuesday evening, said: “It is a crime. The hospital had been provided with a generator. I need to know how and why this could still occur.” A probe has been ordered into the incident.

CMOH Dr Srikanta Ray said: “There’s nothing unusual about a power failure. But there should be adequate alternative arrangements. It seems the generator was not working.”

Behead rage singes Assam health centre

Guwahati: Villagers of Jogdol went on the rampage on Tuesday after they found the heads of two children in a bamboo grove near a private research centre, Dhaniram Barua Heart City, at Sonapur. The children were among six of a tribal family hacked to death on Sunday.

Early Tuesday, villagers saw a dog carrying the chopped-off head of a child from a nearby thicket, close to the Heart City campus run by controversial “surgeon” Dhaniram Barua, who had shocked the world 12 years ago by transplanting the heart of a pig in human body.

Smelling foul play, tribals of the area stormed the research centre armed with sticks and sharp weapons. They pelted stones, broke windows and beat up employees before setting the private research on fire. The second head was retrieved from the grove around 3.30 pm. Police and villagers identified the two heads to be that of Atul (6) and Tukul (9).

Though locals alleged Barua was behind the killings, he denied the allegation. “I was in Bangalore,” he said.

Car Crash leaves her craving for sex

London: A car crash has left a woman sexually aroused 24 hours a day.

A nerve in Joleen Baughman’s pelvis that controls desire for sex got permanently switched on during the accident two years ago. Now even the slightest movement like sitting on a bus, bending over or walking across a room gets the 39-yearold mother turned on. “It’s unbearable. Just my clothes rubbing gets me so aroused that I can hardly think straight,’’ the Mirror quoted her as saying.
She added: “It’s very embarrassing and it’s impossible to concentrate.’’

Joleen who comes from New Mexico confessed that even sex with her husband does not completely please her. She said: “We’d have sex once and I’d feel no release at all. “So we’d go again and then it would start really hurting but I would still want sex, even more than before. “If my husband managed to go for a third time it would be agony but I would still feel no release.’’

“Being aroused pretty much 24-hours a day is exhausting.’’

“It’s so embarrassing. I have to try to keep my feelings under control and to ignore them so I can get on with normal life.’’ “But I often worry people can guess what I’m feeling even though they can’t.’’ However, she is learning to deal with her condition known as Restless Genital Syndrome or Persistent Sexual Arousal. She added: “If my urges get really strong I lie down very still so there is no vibration at all and that helps a little bit. “It’s mind over matter. But I’m hoping a medical cure can be found in the future.’’